1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 266 Cooperation
In March, Guangzhou is like a gentle beauty just waking up. The morning light is like a soft veil, and the air is filled with the moist fragrance of grass and trees. Clusters of fiery red flowers ignite on the tips of the kapok trees.

If it weren't for that hurried and brief escape in the early morning, the unique hazy spring scenery of Lingnan would still be worth seeing.

Now all that remains is heaviness.

Chen Jiazhi was still trying to recall when he had been targeted.

He agreed with Chen Zhengxu's judgment. If it was a coincidence, it was more likely that he was robbed on a rural road than in the city.

In the city, it was clear that there had been prior planning.

He recalled that it was impossible to sell in April and May; he could only make a few hundred yuan a day.

There was a slight chance in June. I caught the Dragon Boat Festival and June 6.18th market rallies, and made at least one or two thousand a day, with two or three days even exceeding four thousand.

July is more likely; at its peak, I earned six or seven thousand a day for a few days.

The first half of August was rather sluggish, but after switching to a light truck in the middle of the month, the last ten days or so were particularly impressive. There were one or two hundred vegetables every day, and the prices of vegetables were ridiculously high. As a result, the income increased day by day, reaching a peak of 1.6 yuan.

Most importantly, back then, Yi Long and he sold vegetables together for a long time.

That's probably when they were targeted.

But then he stopped selling vegetables, not selling a single pound throughout September. When he resumed selling vegetables in October, he was already at the Jiangxin vegetable market, having changed his route. And afterwards, he would sell for a short period and then disappear.
The most recent opportunity was during the cold snap in January this year, when vegetables were plentiful and prices were high. But back then, it wasn't Yilong that went; instead, it was him, Li Cai, Chen Zhengxu, and Xue Jun who went, and they split up in two cars.
After closing his eyes and pondering for a while, a mental journey of robbery emerged.

This also led Chen Jiazhi to believe that some force in the market had ulterior motives.

"Are these people stupid? They only made four thousand yuan today, and they're risking their lives for four thousand yuan!"

After figuring it out, Chen Jiazhi couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses.

“Four thousand yuan is not a small amount,” Chen Zhengxu said quietly. “Besides, Xue Jun has been selling vegetables recently, so they probably thought the money was with Xue Jun and that today was the day you came to collect the money.”

"..."

When they arrived home and parked the car, Li Xiu and Peng Guozhen, who were waiting in the yard, noticed the dents and cracks on the vehicle.

"What happened?"

"Is it okay?"

"It's nothing," Chen Jiazhi said, feigning annoyance. "I don't know which bastard put a stone in the middle of the road. I didn't react in time and bumped into it, only to get grazed."

"Ouch, it's so badly damaged, how big must that rock be?"

After confirming that the person was alright, Peng Guozhen carefully examined the body again and cursed, "What kind of idiot did this? He'll die a horrible death!"

Li Xiu, still shaken, said, "It's good that no one is hurt. The car should be repairable, right?"

"It can be fixed."

Chen Jiazhi didn't want to get entangled in this matter, so he went straight to the kitchen, ladled out a large bowl of porridge, and called out to Chen Zhengxu:
"Zhengxu, eat breakfast first, then take the car to get it fixed!"

"Good."

After glossing over the matter and having breakfast, Chen Jiazhi wanted to take a nap, but Chen Shaochang stopped him as he entered the stairwell.

"problem occurs?"

"without……"

"There are bullet holes on the car body."

"Uh...you really have a sharp eye." Chen Jiazhi looked back and made sure no one was around before saying softly, "You should be more careful at home from now on. I'm planning to get a couple of these, I'll give you one later."

He made a gun gesture with his right hand.

Chen Shaochang nodded.

He knew that his son's business was growing bigger and bigger, and having weapons for self-defense would make him safer.

At that time, there was no complete ban on guns, and since everyone else was using guns, Chen Shaochang reasoned that he should have one too.

"Go to sleep, I just came to ask," Chen Shaochang said. "If all else fails, your mother and I will take Zhengyun back to our hometown. No outsiders will dare to cause trouble in the village then."

"I'm afraid the villagers will be jealous."

"They won't kill anyone in the village."

"talk later."

The village wasn't exactly peaceful either. Besides not producing any intellectuals, three other groups in their village were particularly notorious: high-altitude construction workers, high-altitude air conditioning workers, and criminals.

The largest group of criminals are murderers; people from the 70s, 80s, and 90s generations have died by firing squad.

Most are physically strong, full of martial spirit, but simple-minded.
The four fellow villagers who followed him—Qi Yongfeng, Qi Yongcheng, Li Mingkun, and Chen Zhengxu—were all relatively rare, normal people.

Therefore, going back to the village is not a wise move.

Lying in bed, Chen Jiazhi thought of Mingya Garden, where the security and property management were top-notch.

When you have the means, it's the right choice to give your family a better living environment.

We still need to make money!
...

After taking a nap, at 2 PM, Chen Jiazhi arrived at the market, where Li Cai, who was by the roadside, told him that Xu Wenxiang had called.

Did they say anything?

"Xu Yao answered the phone," Li Cai said. "She asked you to call her back after you arrived. It seems someone is coming to the market."

Chen Jiazhi probably knew what was going on.

It was probably a Hong Kong businessman or a middleman who was coming, but he wasn't in a hurry. He first took a walk around the field to inspect it, and after a brief exchange with Yi Dinggan and others, he went back to his office to call Xu Wenxiang.

Xu Wenxiang was very direct: "We'll go to the market at 10 a.m. tomorrow."

Chen Jiazhi asked, "Could you tell me who's coming? I need to prepare."

Xu Wenxiang said, "You know Mr. Xia Youche from Tongxingtai Vegetable Market, his son Xia Yang, and Cao Hong, the representative of the exporter." Chen Jiazhi raised an eyebrow and asked, "All of them?"

"Hmm." Xu Wenxiang pondered, "They've already talked, so be prepared."

Generally speaking, both the vegetable vendors and the export middlemen hope for a lower purchase price, which makes their collaboration intriguing.

Chen Jiazhi said, "I not only prepared myself mentally, but also took practical action. If all else fails, I will switch to the domestic market."

Xu Wenxiang asked in surprise, "Are you willing to give up the profits in the Hong Kong market?"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "It makes no difference to me whether I have it or not, but for them, it might not be so certain sometimes."

"I hope so," Xu Wenxiang said. "I hope your luck continues."

call ended.

Chen Jiazhi's initial enthusiasm for preparing the deal waned, as he guessed that the other party was only there to find fault and drive down the price.

No matter how carefully you prepare, you'll still be looked down upon, so it's better not to prepare at all.

Hard power is the most important thing. When others have no vegetables but Jiangxin Market does, he doesn't believe they won't buy them.

The worst-case scenario is to abandon this channel.

After making himself a cup of tea, Chen Jiazhi called Hong Zhong again. When Hong Zhong answered the phone, Chen Jiazhi mentioned that he had been robbed in the early hours of the morning and implied that he needed a gun.

Hong Zhong initially refused, emphasizing that he did not engage in such business.

Chen Jiazhi said, "Boss Hong, Jiangxin Vegetable Market needs a stable supplier of agricultural supplies. Are you interested?"

Hong Zhong chuckled lightly, "Boss Chen, you're just using this to string me along. I know perfectly well that you're just an employee over there."

“I’ve bought the Jiangxin vegetable market,” Chen Jiazhi said thoughtfully. “If you’re interested, come and talk to me.”

I could hear heavy breathing coming from the other end of the phone.

"You wait."

More than an hour later, Hong Zhong appeared at Jiangxin Vegetable Market with Heiwa'er Hong Biao.

I happened to run into a vegetable worker returning from picking vegetables; his baskets of snow peas looked vibrant and appealing.

"It's only 1.8 yuan, what a waste!"

It was an empty corner of the market, with no one around.

When Hong Biao learned that Jiangxin Market had 300 mu of snow peas, which could yield 10,000 jin of harvested snow peas every day, but the price was only 1.8 yuan, he immediately exclaimed what a pity.

"Mr. Chen, how about we continue our cooperation?"

Chen Jiazhi shook his head. "That's too big a target. I still prefer to do legitimate business."

Hong Biao said anxiously, "You're running a legitimate business! You just sold the vegetables; you have no idea what happened in between!"

Chen Jiazhi said quietly, "I've looked into the relevant laws. If someone is caught unaware of the situation, they will be fined heavily. If someone is aware of the situation, they will be in big trouble. And if the amount is large, it's hard for me to say that I was unaware."

"Oh, what a pity, what a pity, what a real pity!"

Seeing that there was no hope of joining forces again, Hong Biao made no attempt to hide his regret.

"Mr. Chen, do you know how much Hong Kong-style snow peas cost per pound?"

"Don't try to disturb my Dao heart."

“You…you’re saying that…” Hong Biao sighed, “During the Spring Festival, the retail price of snow peas in Hong Kong was almost twenty yuan per pound!”

"Even now, it can still sell for around 10 yuan!"

Chen Jiazhi, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, smacked his lips twice. "Even if it sells for a hundred yuan a pound, it has nothing to do with me."

Hong Biao choked on his breath, "One hundred yuan a pound is too outrageous."

Chen Jiazhi glanced at him with a half-smile. He had indeed seen Hong Kong snow peas sell for over 100 yuan per pound, but those were just pea shoots, roughly equivalent to pea tips, and it was during a special period, yet the price was still incredibly outrageous.

Chen Jiazhi said, "Let's forget about the smuggling business and talk about some legitimate business."

Hong Zhong looked around at the spacious environment and said sarcastically, "Buying guns is considered a legitimate business?"

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "Things have been a bit chaotic these past two years. The wholesale market is a mixed bag. We just want to feel safer. How is that not legitimate business? By the way, can you get your hands on some?"

“Sure,” Hong Zhong affirmed. “These are counterfeit goods from Guangxi Province, certified by Hong Kong gangsters. Just like when you sell vegetables, the product quality is guaranteed.”

"..." Chen Jiazhi: "Okay, let's start with three rounds."

Hong Biao whistled.

“Let’s talk about serious business,” Chen Jiazhi said. “I can entrust you with the supply of agricultural materials for Jiangxin Market, and I can even entrust you with the supply of other markets in the future. There is only one principle: large quantity, low price and good quality.”

Hong Zhongchen pondered for a while, a cigarette dangling from his lips, before finally speaking, "How about we cooperate?"

Chen Jiazhi turned to look at him.

Hong Zhong said, "You also have a share."

Chen Jiazhi asked in surprise, "Are you sure?"

Currently, there is a shortage of various agricultural input products. The products themselves are resources, and having a supply of goods guarantees a steady profit.

So Chen Jiazhi was quite surprised.

Hong Zhong pondered for a moment and said, "I've only been in this industry for a short time, and I need someone knowledgeable to help me with planning. I think you're suitable."

Hong Biao also said, "Yes, I also think you are suitable, Mr. Chen, and you are the first big client!"

“I don’t actually know that much about it.” Chen Jiazhi shook his head and smiled, “But I think you made a very correct decision.”

(End of this chapter)